About

About The Good South

The Good South is a locally created, authentic guide to New Zealand’s lower South Island.
Aimed at independent travellers seeking an alternative to the commercial tourist trail, The Good South points out areas of natural beauty, interesting byways and, via The Great Scone Trail, good baking, coffee and tea to sustain you on your journey.
The result is a guide combining old-fashioned research, authentic travel writing and quality images boosted by contemporary digital technology and the latest search engine optimisation methods.
Collaborative online projects and stand-alone digital business initiatives are our speciality. Are you looking for assistance in those areas? We’re happy to chat.

Tim Brewster: Founder/Editor

Wanaka-based journalist Tim Brewster created The Good South as a local’s guide for visitors to the lower South Island. Originally from Dunedin, Tim has written extensively about travel and adventure and runs his own digital marketing copywriting business. He has also worked in the ski and tourism industry for three decades and enjoys paddleboarding the southern waterways, mountain biking and exploring the south’s uncrowded and untamed landscape. Get me on: tim@the goodsouth.co.nz

Robyn Macdonald: Marketing manager/Digital and SEO

As food editor and the creative mind behind The Great Scone Trail, Robyn Macdonald’s childhood on a Southland high country farm gave her an intuitive passion for the origin of produce and its pathway from land and sea to the table. A digital marketing and SEO consultant since the 1990’s, her company Optymise has been extensively involved in the tourism industry and import – export markets. She also founded the culinary marketing company Global Gourmet in 1999, working on culinary tourism in Italy, China, Thailand and Indonesia. It’s been a lively ride. Although Robyn has participated in cooking classes all over the world and built wonderful friendships, she has based her success on the art of connection through culinary travel and culture. She brings that inspiration to The Good South. The lower South Island is a many-roomed larder with hidden doors. Robyn and The Good South will help you find them.

Eddie Spearing: Designer, webmaster, man of action

Originally qualified as a design engineer, Eddie has an extensive background in publishing within the action sports industry. He is an avid follower of the changing face of media and an early adopter of new technologies for projects with business partner Robyn Macdonald. Having lived in Wanaka for 15 years he has been involved in many community projects and enjoys the Wanaka outdoors lifestyle. He loves to ‘get involved’ with things close to his heart, regularly participating in all types of cycling events, loves open water swimming and continues his longterm involvement in snowboarding, skateboarding and rockclimbing.

Anthony ‘Ants’ Hansen. Photographer, filmmaker

Photographer and filmmaker Ants Hansen

Forces of nature are a consistent theme in the life and work of action photographer and filmmaker Ants Hansen. Drawn to the twin pursuits of still photography and the adrenaline surge of skydiving when he left school, Ants was a pioneer of aerial free-fall photography in the late 1980’s.

Since moving to the Southern Alps to work as a professional skydiving photographer, his time behind the lens has seen him develop into a globally regarded photographer and filmmaker of extreme sports amidst raw, vivid landscapes. Over the decades his work has evolved to include a wide range of commercial photography, portraits and film projects ranging from Warbirds over Wanaka and the New Zealand Golf Open to concerts featuring international acts.

An early innovator of digital technology and social media, Ants developed online filming for distribution prior to the explosive growth of youtube. See more of his action and portrait work at Mountainlightbox and PICTUREit